Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Swedish Pancakes in Kingsburg !

I have decided to start a new tradition , in December or other times of the year ,if the desire strikes ! It's going with my family,or friends, to the little Swedish town,called Kingsburg,where my father grew up,to have Swedish pancakes,and then to have a small tour of this quaint village. Kingsburg is in central California,about twenty miles south of Fresno,where I live. I especially love a shop called Svnsk Butik Swedish Gifts,which is loaded with all sorts of wonderful goods from Sweden. June, the owner, sells delicious Swedish coffee,christmas ornaments,clothing,books,ect.,ect..




When I was growing up,our family used to drive to Kingsburg on various Sundays,to have roast beef dinner with my Swedish grandmother in her little house.My brothers and I could always count on her to have the cookie jar filled with sugar cookies !
   In December,before Christmas,my folks came up to visit, from San Diego,California and my daughter Ashley was in town,from San Francisco. I suggested,rather,I urged them to go on a trek to Kingsburg with me ! So,the first item on the agenda ,was to go to Kady's Country Kitchen, to have the World's best Swedish Pancakes ! This place is located off the beaten track,on the outskirts of town,close to the Old 99 Highway. The decor is simple and homey. A friendly waitress asked us what we would like,and we all chose  the Swedish Pancakes. The pancakes are huge,about the size of a salad plate ! They are a pale yellow color,because of all the eggs inside them,and have  a rich,buttery flavor,which is to die for !!! They come with a cup of lingonberry sauce,a boulder sized dollop of butter that melts and oozes all over the pancakes, and lots of powdered sugar sprinkled all over ! We ladies could only eat two apiece !
   After rolling out of Kady's,we dove to the center of town,and did a little shopping at the Svnsk Butik.Ashley bought some Swedish Dala horse cookie cutters and I bought some red wooden Christmas ornaments in a pig a,little girl,a little boy,and a heart shape.
   After that,we drove to a building that had once housed my grandfather's grocery store.There is a wonderful,enormous mural painted on the side of it,depicting Kingsburg's heritage.
   Unfortunately,at the end of this trip,we ended up landing in jail......Kingsburg's former two celled jail,that is ! The town must not have had much crime in the olden days,as is true today. ! You can peek inside,where you'll see two jailbirds sitting in chairs,playing cards at a tiny table.
   For the richest taste treat and a step back in time,I highly recommend stopping by Kady's Country Kitchen at 1710 Simpson Street and the charming little town of Kingsburg !
   P.S. I added a photo of  Swedish Pancakes  and Mandarin tangerines that I made at home recently for breakfast.....and dinner ! Hee hee !

                Swedish Pancakes (Pannkakor)

6eggs                                           1  1/2 c. flour                          lingonberry sauce
1/2 t. salt                                      2  2/3 c. milk                          powdered sugar
1  1/2 t. sugar                               1/8 lb.melted butter

First cut up some fresh fruit and snip some mint sprigs if you have them. Have this fruit ready to put on the plates when your pancakes are done.Some cooked turkey bacon can be a nice addition too.Heat your oven on low for about 3 minutes and then turn it off. Put your plates in the oven to keep warm .Melt  the butter. Beat eggs until light ; add salt and sugar. Add flour and beat well. Add milk gradually. Add melted butter and stir until blended, or mix all in a blender...Put a small pat of butter in a  hot frying pan or a griddle on medium or lower heat. Pour 1/4 cup or less of the batter in the pan or on the griddle.Cook until the pancake is golden brown on one side,and then flip it over and cook until the other side is golden brown.
   To make them extra rich,put a small pat of butter on top,some lingonberry sauce,and sprinkle a little powdered sugar ! Garnish with your fruit and mint leaves.
   This recipe can be halved for one or two people.I would leave the salt the same measurement,and put in 1 tsp.of sugar. This recipe was found in the Centennial Cookbook (1888-1988) by the cooks of First Covenant Church,Fresno California. Elaine Johnson submitted the recipe and had said to use 2  3/4 c. milk.I changed it to a little less milk.

On love.....In the book "How to Get a Date Worth Keeping" by Dr.Henry Cloud,he talks about being yourself from the beginning when dating. To be continued....